Top Pentagon lawyer quits

12/6/12 6:34 PM EST

The Pentagon's top lawyer, Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson, indicated Thursday that he plans to leave government at the end of the year.

Johnson disclosed his plans in a letter sent Thursday to President Barack Obama.

"Following some time off, I will...return to private law practice," Johnson wrote in the one-page letter, released to reporters by the Pentagon. "Thank you for the opportunity to be part of your campaign, your transition and your Administration. Thank you also for the best clients I will ever have: Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and the men and women of the U.S. military."

Johnson helped oversee the Obama Administration's handling of the repeal of the military's ban on openly gay servicemembers, a policy better known as "don't ask, don't tell." He helped run a task force that examined all the issues that a repeal could raise and effectively cleared the way for the passage of repeal legislation signed by President Barack Obama in December 2010. The repeal took effect the following September.

"Jeh¹s influence has touched virtually all areas of the Department of Defense over the past four years, and he will be sorely missed," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement Thursday night. "While I¹m sad to see him go, I¹m deeply grateful for this outstanding service to this Department, to our men and women in uniform, and to our nation since assuming his position in early 2009....He has guided me and the Department through some tense, real-world developments, and he helped develop policy on a range of complex issues involving the use of force, detention and prosecution, and cybersecurity."

"His leadership and persuasive analysis were also instrumental in the successful effort to repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy and he oversaw a remarkably smooth process that has allowed gay and lesbian service members to serve with integrity and honor," Panetta added.

As word of Johnson's resignation spread Thursday, gay rights advocates praised his work to advance the repeal effort.

"We appreciate, admire, and applaud the critical leadership role that Jeh Johnson played in the repeal of the discriminatory 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law as General Counsel at the Department of Defense," said Allyson Robinson of Outserve-SLDN. "He has earned not only our respect, but also a place in history as a warrior for fairness and equality for all Americans."

Johnson also took part in Obama Administration legal deliberations relating to national security, though his advice was not always followed by the White House. When the U.S. and NATO initiated a bombing campaign in Libya last year, Johnson opined that it needed to be reined in after 60 days because of the War Powers Act, the New York Times reported. Obama ultimately decided to continue the campaign unabated, effectively overruling the position taken by Johnson and the acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Johnson was a key player in the April 2011 decision to move alleged WikiLeaks source Pfc. Bradley Manning from a Quantico, Va. brig in the wake of growing protests from human rights groups and even the State Department's then-spokesman. The Pentagon lawyer traveled to Quantico to assess conditions of confinement critics said were unduly harsh and may have amounted to torture. After nine months at Quantico, Manning was moved to Fort Leavenworth, Ks., and placed in the normal pre-trial population there.

The top DoD lawyer also helped oversee legal changes to military commissions inherited from the Bush administration. He worked to improve press access to the tribunals by establishing a website that includes legal pleadings filed by the prosecution and defense, as well as judicial orders.

However, the Pentagon counsel never responded to a request from First Amendment advocates, journalists and others to establish a similar system for access to records relating to newsworthy court martial proceedings, like the prosecution of Pfc. Bradley Manning over alleged leaks to WikiLeaks. (POLITICO was among the news organizations requesting access.)

Johnson started out his legal career as a federal prosecutor in New York City and later became a partner at Paul Weiss. He also served for several years as counsel to the Air Force in the Clinton Administration.

UPDATE (Thursday, 10:56 P.M.): This post has been updated with Panetta's comments.